Ed Pawlowski wrote:

What probably happened is that the parade was going north-bound
and got stopped a the lights on Front street. The tractor-trailer
was following too closely and stopped on the tracks. The driver
was too focused on maintaining his spacing in the parade to notice
the train.

One article I read said there was another truck stopped in front
of the one that was hit. Driver probably never looked back, or if
he did, too late.

Seeing the condition of the trailer after it was hit, it's clear that
the trailer *wasn't* sitting dead-center on the tracks. The trailer
looks basically intact, with many of the chairs still tied down.

I would guess that with the train about 1/2 mile away from the crossing,
it would have been at that point that the conductor put the brakes on.
This would have put the train about 30 seconds away from impact. Also
at the same time, the truck driver probably started to honk his horn and
start to edge the truck forward and probably drive over the curb trying
to get the trailer off the tracks. Other cars in front of him would
have started to get out of the way. I would guess that the trailer was
almost clear of the train, and that it was probably going 30 - 40 mph
when it hit the last 5 feet of trailer still in it's path, swinging the
trailer out of the way and bouncing everyone still on the trailer into
the air. Some of the dead were probably hit by the trailer as it swung
over them.